Mexican supercars in detail: a high-octane chimichanga sauce

Mexicans in the first place is famous for its spicy cuisine, not machines. The country, of course, there are several plants on the screwdriver assembly of cars of General Motors and the Ford, which recently joined Volkswagen, BMW, Nissan and Toyota, but … conveyors in Mexico primarily motivated by lower costs. But his own car production, not to mention the supercars, it was not in the country until a period of time. However, among the Mexicans were several speed enthusiasts who dream to build his own supercar. About them we will talk today.

2008 – Mastretta MXT

A pioneer in the direction of construction vehicles, fully developed and assembled in Mexico, became an entrepreneur Daniel Mastretta. In 2007 he opened his own company and presented the first outline of the debut of the Mexican supercar, which, according to his idea, was to become a competitor to Lotus Elise. Pre-production prototype mid-engine avtomobilchika length of only 3.9 meters have been shown to the public at the Auto Show in Mexico City a year after the application, but, as is often the case with similar projects, serial production stalled – the car was not sufficiently prepared for the realities and calculations, which looked great on paper, in practice have led to a different result. But Daniel did not lose heart and throw the idea pigeonholed, deciding to go to the end.

The first production cars, received the name of Mastretta MXT, came to buyers only in 2011. At the heart of the Mexican coupe design – aluminum monocoque reinforced tubular frame on which are mounted, aluminum double wishbones front and rear wheels and exterior body panels of fiberglass. It has been used and more advanced carbon fiber – because it made the floor panel and the number of external components. As a result, the car's curb weight does not exceed 900 kg, and on the rear axle for 56% of the total weight.

For passenger cockpit located all-aluminum inline four-cylinder Ford Duratec engines range from a working volume of 2.0 liters. Equipped with a turbocharger and intercooler, as well as a new program management and exhaust system, it develops 253 liters. from. and 339 Nm of torque. Paired with the engine running a five-speed manual transmission through which is transmitted to the rear wheels.

As a result, power density "Mastretty" – more than 270 liters. from. per ton, allowing the car to accelerate to the rating "hundreds" fast five seconds and a top speed in this case is 241 km / h. Moreover – Mexican supercar meets environmental standards Euro-5 standard, and consumes about 7.0 liters of 98-octane gasoline per 100 km in the combined cycle.

The standard equipment Mastretta MXT includes anti-lock brakes, air conditioning and a stereo recorder, but on request the machine can be retrofitted power windows and an advanced audio system with a subwoofer. To build the car plant in Toluca was built, and the Mexicans initially planned to collect up to 200 cars a year. At the same time the domestic market was to remain only 30 percent of the party – the rest of the car was planned to be exported.

Mastretta MXT was presented at the British Motor Show in London, which was sold for 66,000 dollars, but the resounding success achieved could not – even in South America hardly sold 50 cars a year, and in Europe through walking on the unit. Fuel to the fire poured the leading TV program Top Gear, responded negatively about Mastretta – Mexican car has been described as "a giant tortilla on wheels." Daniel Mastretta filed a lawsuit in the Air Force, and later gave his car to the transmission test. The course load: Tested MAT Richard Hammond changed his opinion. In addition, the black PR – public relations, too: as a result of the scandal Mastretta became famous, and the company got new buyers from all over the world who want to enjoy the famous exotic.

2014 – VUhL 05

Looking at the success Mastretty, to create their own vehicles and other Mexican decided enthusiasts. Among them were the brothers Iker and Guillermo Echeveria, submitted in 2014 at the Festival of Speed ​​in the British Goodwood own track supercar, named V? HL 05 (read as "vul", and is an acronym of abbriviatury Vehicles of Ultra-lightweight and High-performance – "High Performance and Ultra-light cars"). To build your car, the brothers enlisted the support of corporations Magna Steyr and the Ford, and of the Government of Mexico for the set. Headquarters, by the way, is based in Luxembourg.

The creators are positioning V? HL 05 as track supercar, the main competitors which were KTM X-Bow and Ariel Atom. At the heart of the Mexican Roadster – monocoque developed with the participation of Austrian Magna Steyr. Through the use of aluminum alloy, it weighs only 78 kg. To him stretchers attached powertrain and suspension of chrome-molybdenum steel. The front and rear suspension – independent, double wishbone with transverse push rod type «push-rod». Exterior body panels of fiberglass vykleeny, but on request they can be made of carbon fiber composites, which reduces the weight of the car immediately to 30 kg – up to 700 flat.

See also the technical description of the models:

For passenger cockpit placed inline four-cylinder turbo engine the Ford, but unlike "Mastretty", "Vul" got a more modern engine line of Ecoboost 2.0-liter. It produces 290 liters. from. and 420 Nm and is aggregated only with six-speed manual transmission, the transmission from the engine to the rear wheels. The spurt from zero to "hundreds" of Mexican writes in the column results a value of 3.7 seconds and plays the English "Atom", which accelerates to this figure less than three seconds, but two hundredths bypasses the brainchild of Austrian engineers. And thanks to sophisticated aerodynamics "Voula" maximum speed reaches 245 km / h, which is faster than the competition immediately at 20 km / h.

Sales track car started in 2014 in North America and Europe, and a little later VUHL 06 made it to China and the Middle East markets. The base price on the Mexican track the car was 65 000 euros, the car is equipped with only two carbon-fiber cradles, molded the figure of the driver and passenger, a liquid crystal display informs the driver about the speed, engine speed and gear engaged, as well as a quick racing wheel and a built-in HD-DVR to record his racing victories.

Composite exterior body panels are manufactured in Canada, and the welding of the monocoque and the final assembly of the car takes place at the plant in Mexico, opened on the money the Government of Mexico. The final fine-tuning and calibration of the machine is carried out on the track the UK, and for a maximum of 20 "Vulov" is produced for the year.

2015 – LTM Hot Shot Inferno

"Proper sports cars and the track race cars in our country has produced, but in Mexico do not have a hypercar." Perhaps that is how the founders of the Mexican company decided LTM Hot Shot, which are presented at Expo Automotriz Santa Fe Auto Show in Mexico City under the impressive supercar called Inferno. "Hell," the car has a very impressive design, but the main news was the material body. It is a rigid monocoque, which, like the outer panel is made of foam metal alloys based on aluminum, zinc and silver.

According to data provided by LTM, patented material has high rigidity and low density – only 3.6 g / cc (for example, the steel component is 7.8 g / cm, and that of aluminum -? 2.7 g / cm ?) and at the same time incredibly malleable: the results of the experiments he could without the destruction and loss of properties to change its scale to 100 times the original. According to the developers, the body of foamed metal absorbs the impact energy and reduces the overall weight of the car.

Creating a car went a long seven years, at the same time engaged in the development of Mexican engineers, and construction – the Italians under the direction of Antonio Ferraioli, said earlier his portfolio of work on supercars Lamborghini. The creators plan to equip their offspring V8 engine equipped with two turbochargers and working together with robotized transmission. According to their data, the motor will develop the capacity of 1 400 l. from. and a torque of 670 Nm, enabling the car to reach the claimed top speed of 395 km / h and acceleration to 100 km / h takes less than three seconds.

The indicators are impressive, but they are presented only with the words of the creators. In fact, it is expected to start assembling Limited party at the factory in Italy, with information about where exactly the car will be collected and how much it will cost, the authors did not give. Indeed, just as the refused to answer the question whether the presented layout in Mexico vehicle chassis or prototype. What will come of this venture – we learn later, but we wish the Mexican designers to further develop their ideas.

What feature Mexican supercars?

Construction and development from scratch modern sports car, ready to outdo many competitors from other countries.

The use of metal foams with unique performance in vehicle design.

Comparative characteristics of the car Mastretta MXT and nearby classmates